Beltsville Volunteer Fire Department engine 31. This summer, while I temporarily lived with a close friend, the fire alarms in our highrise apartment building went off. I was prepared to evacuate, but my friend said the alarms were prone to going off for minor non-fire events, and unless he smelled smoke, he wasn't leaving (it was the middle of the night). So, I watched the action from the balcony. The source of the alarm? An electrical fire caused by a washing machine in the building's laundromat, two floors below our apartment. Thankfully, it was contained quickly.